TIME put on sale three exclusive and first-ever non-fungible tokens inspired by one of its most iconic covers and including an original cover made especially for the auction.
TIME’s NFT cover features the bold title “Is Fiat Dead?” — a nod to one of its most iconic cover designs from the April 8, 1966 “Is God Dead?” and April 3, 2017 “Is Truth Dead?” editions.
The “Is God Dead?” cover was written by TIME religion editor John Elson and inspired countless angry sermons, thousands of letters from readers, and a lively debate at a time when 97% of Americans said they believed in God.
Fresh attention to Bitcoin
Fiat money is a currency that is issued by the government. It is not backed by a physical commodity, like gold or silver, but rather by the government that issued it.
Cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin (BTC) and Dogecoin (DOGE), are challenging that model.
Bitcoin’s rise to beyond the $60,000 level per coin has brought fresh attention to the electronic currency market.
Over the past year alone, Bitcoin — the world’s most popular crypto — has seen its price rally roughly 800%.
All three covers are auctioned on March 24 at SuperRare, a marketplace for digital artworks tokenized as NFTs or crypto-collectible digital items for ownership.
Crypto as payment
TIME, which Salesforce chief executive Marc Benioff and his wife Lynne bought in 2018, currently earns around seven-figures per year in its cover store, where its magazine covers can be acquired as posters, canvas prints, and more.
“We already have an existing business with the cover store in the analog space. Moving into the NFT collectibles is a natural extension for us,” Yahoo Finance’s Julia La Roche quoted TIME president Keith Grossman as saying in a phone interview.
Meanwhile, Grossman said TIME would start accepting cryptocurrencies as a mode of payment for digital subscriptions within the next 30 days. The move by the publication to join the NFT bandwagon comes in the face of a boom for the digital collectibles industry.
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